Photo: Dock Doctors owners Jeff and Lynn Provost (front, second and third from left) and staff at their office in Ferrisburgh. Courtesy photo.
by Bruce Edwards, Vermont Business Magazine The boating season in Vermont and in New England for that matter is pretty short. But that didn’t discourage Jeff Provost from taking his dream and turn it into a successful business.
Located in Ferrisburgh, a hop, skip and a jump from Lake Champlain, Provost set up shop in the 1980s and named his business Dock Doctors.
Dock Doctors is an appropriate name. The company manufactures and sells a variety of galvanized steel and aluminum docks, boat lifts, paddle boat racks, trailers and launch systems, waterfront access stairs and floating walkways, and accessories.
They reported 2019 revenues of $9 million and employ 60. They were ranked Number 10 for 20-Year Growth in VBM's Vermont 100+ (January 2020 issue).
Provost said while business is good orders for larger projects which generate the most profits seem to be slowing down just a bit.
Those larger projects tend to be state, municipal, and commercial contracts, he said.
“It seems like those budgets are fairly tight,” Provost said. “They’re not giving grants and spending as much as they were on our type of product.”
Photo: Dock Doctors Lynn Provost - Basin Harbor Resort. Courtesy photo.
For the residential market, he said business remains robust.
As with any outdoor activity whether it’s skiing or mountain biking, Provost said weather effects the boating industry and related businesses.
“If you have a really cold, wet summer our residential sales go down because people aren’t using the lake,” he said.
The real estate market is also a factor. Someone who buys a waterfront home often wants to update or change their dock. He said the company’s higher-priced residential projects usually accompany new home construction. That may mean not only a dock and a boat lift but also access to get from the house to the water, he said.
Because many of the easily accessible waterfront properties are spoken for, Provost said for newer homes the company sells stair systems, hillside elevators, and trolleys that provide access to the water.
Following the 2008 financial meltdown, the real estate market came to a standstill. He said the ripple effect prompted Dock Doctors to offer a wider variety of products and services.
Although the boating season is short, the company’s bread-and-butter remains New York and New England.
Because the company has been doing business in Vermont for more than 30 years, Provost said the market is a bit saturated. He also said business is limited because Vermont only allows seasonal or temporary docks.
“Upstate New York is really a big, huge part of our business because New York allows us to build permanent structures, boat houses (and docks,)” he said.
He also said the company is looking to expand more into New Hampshire.
The company has done some ocean front dock projects, including one in Key West. But Provost said those coastal projects are limited in part because it requires a different type of construction to withstand hurricanes.
He also said Florida still has a love affair with its wooden docks. “They still like their wood piles driven into the sand with pressure treated wood bolted onto them,” he said. “They’re happy with that. It works for the most part.”
Dock Doctors occupies three buildings in Ferrisburgh, including a showroom and manufacturing facility, totaling 50,000 square feet.
The company has 60 employees, including welders, fabricators, and managers.
“I wouldn’t be there without them,” he said. “I have a great, great management team and staff.”
The company also has a seasonal showroom in Lake Placid.
The company traces its history to 1985 when Provost set up shop in his parent’s garage.
His interest in docks evolved from his early days as a carpenter.
“Way back in the early ‘80s, literally right out of high school, I was building gazebos,” he said.
From there Provost built houses, garages and wooden docks and sold boat lifts. He also said he was “always drawn to the water” and so he began designing his own line of docks.
“Growing up I was from a poor family and didn’t have the luxury of being on the water,” he said.
Dock Doctors has two lines of products - custom built and prefabricated. The latter are manufactured during the off season between October and May and fills the company’s Ferrisburgh warehouse, he said.
Provost also said the company’s website has help boost visibility and sales.
And unlike many dock companies that rely solely on a stock line of products, Provost said Dock Doctors “designs and builds to fit the need of the client.”
While the business isn’t exactly recession proof, Provost is optimistic about the future.
“Now we’re going into more dock accessories,” he said.
One product is a ladder lift Provost designed for kayaks.
He said internet sales of accessories have taken off in places like the Great Lakes and Texas.
“That segment, that market, is the fastest growing part of our business,” Provost said.
Although it doesn’t account for the biggest dollar volume, he said it doesn’t require the same logistics of shipping and installing a dock or boathouse.